The production version of Maruti Suzuki Wagon R EV will go on sale in India in 2020; to have highly desirable electric range
Maruti Suzuki is on the verge of having an expansion phase as the leading automaker in the country has bright plans for the near future and beyond. The Indian auto industry has celebrated success of the established players over the decades as brand name and unshakable service integrity have carried a whole lot importance.
But as the new-age customers started growing on almost spaces, the shift in trend can be clearly perceived. The global adhesion towards SUVs and crossovers has dominated the customers’ preference list in recent years and the carmakers have responded intuitively by reviving an old segment or creating a niche of their own.
Maruti Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza exemplifies quick response to the growing trends, as it became the fastest SUV to see past three-lakh sales milestone in just over two years of its debut. The company wants to pioneer the future too and its intentions have been laid out clear as a crystal.
While dropping out of the world’s largest car market, China, could have bigger implications in the global arena, it does show parent Suzuki Motor Corporation’s desire to focus more on what it has – India an economy with tremendous untapped potential in the realms of future mobility and technologies.
Suzuki’s partnership with Toyota is believed to make a big impact in the domestic market, as vehicle sharing and development of a new “compact, high-efficiency” powertrain are part of the equation, along with thorough importance on future electric vehicles.
Maruti Suzuki wants to make use of the first-mover advantage in the zero-emission segment with an affordable EV and at the ongoing MOVE Summit organised in New Delhi, the first sightings have been notified. As we reported recently, a prototype EV has come to the fore based on the highly popular Wagon R tall hatch.
The exterior of the prototype EV largely resembles the latest generation Wagon R in its home market of Japan. It boasts additional stickering on the body panels indicating that it’s an “Electric Vehicle”. The JDM-spec Wagon R features same signature silhouette with prominent dual-part front grille and headlamp cluster, unusually positioned tail lamps at the bumper, wider air intake area, etc.
The EV charging port is fitted just above the left-side front fender while the thick pillars point towards a more spacious interior. Other cosmetic changes include ORVMs positioned on the door and an updated side profile. The production version of Maruti Suzuki Wagon R will go on sale in early 2020 and is expected to be shared with Toyota as well.
While no official specifications have been revealed, it reportedly uses a 72 V electric system and a Lithium-ion battery pack. A badge of 50 prototypes for real-world testing purposes in India has already been rolled out from Gurgaon facility, as Maruti Suzuki will continue to evaluate the EV until its market debut.